Ahh, young love. . .

It all started with school, of course as it does in all cases. A young blonde girl, a tousled haired boy with a goofy grin and it was love. Well it didn't hit them that fast, however when you see love and loyalty in it's most innocent form it takes you back to your younger days when things seemed so simple. None of us would have guessed that shy, awkward, Elizabeth would be the first in the family to fall head over heels, yet in a way it makes sense since she is the most emotional of my girls.

She claimed she was ready for kindergarten, got ready eagerly with her sister and headed out the door last year to JK. However, unlike Jessica she was fearful, unsure of herself, not quite as comfortable in her own skin, much like her mother. There was of course the fear of the unknown, not having her older sister by her side to protect her, or her younger one to comfort her. She was scared of the other kids, of not making friends, and I was fearful for her. She seemed so small dwarfed by her dora back-pack, clothed in her pretty peach dress with the green ribbons.

One of her biggest concerns at the time was boys, she had and still does have an aversion to the opposite sex as most kids her age do. She made sure to tell me again and again that she would make friends with the girls in her class but not the boys. Her aversion went so deep as to render her unable to eat the Smarties or M&M's that in her opinion were boy colors and instead she would pick them out for her father to eat.

The first day seemed to prove the worst of it for her as all her fears seemed confirmed. She felt awkward and was uneasy around the girls and boys of her class, you could see she seemed uncomfortable and uncertain of how to act and how to be. When things didn't go exactly as planned she ended up having a fit and almost missing the bus, thus giving us our first official contact with her teacher who called to make sure she was okay and to offer sugestions for the next day that Elizabeth would be in class.

Elizabeth also found out that the truth about boys was as she feared; they generally are bullies as she encountered two of these and proclaimed her disgust: "Nicolas and Carter are bullies. I do not like Nicolas and Carter. I'm not going to be friends with Nicolas and Carter."

So it seemed she was destined to make fast friends with one of the girls, at least that's what we assumed. We knew that although she would have a difficult time establishing that first friendship that when she finally did her loyalty to that friendship would be invaluable. That's just the sort of girl she is. She mentioned over the next month a couple of girls but she never managed to get their names. They were the girls with long brown hair who wore a pink outfit, or a green outfit, and Gil and I wondered if she would recognize them the next day when they changed clothes.

Slowly though she began to mention once in awhile a boy named Dylan that she would play lego with, or play in the play-house with. Soon this Dylan character began to place quite prominantly in all her school stories and Gil and I recognized a budding friendship. By Christmas she had announced that Dylan was her best friend, and having given herself permission at that point to have a friend who was a boy she seemed to let loose and all her conversation seemed to contain some hint of this boy Dylan.

Naturally as a concerned and nosey mother I began to ask various questions about Dylan, the color of his hair, why did she think they were best friends, did they play alot together etc. etc. I knew it was a defining relationship with her when one day he hit her with a play screw-driver and she did not tell on him. Elizabeth loves to tell on people, especially boys so to be presented with an opportunity that she did not take seemed especially odd to me. So I asked her why she didn't tell her teacher to which she responded, "Well he would have to go to time-out and he's my best friend. I wouldn't be able to play with him and I love playing with Dylan."

Over the following months she regailed us daily with stories of their exploits. They had taken another girl Lauren into their friendship, they had decided that despite each of their aversions to the opposite sex that they could make an exception for the other. Dylan was going to have a boy birthday party but he would invite Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was going to have a girl birthday party but would be sure to invite Dylan.

Then came the day in June when Elizabeth came home and announced that Dylan kissed her: "on the mouth mommy, but don't worry I didn't kiss him back." Well Junior kindergarten is not when I expected to have Elizabeth have her first kiss and after recovering from the shock I began to pepper her with questions. What led up to it? Why on the mouth? Where the heck are the teachers? Gil what kind of school are we sending our children to anyway? However I quickly let go of the sheer panic that was coursing through my veins and decided it was a fairly innocent occurence. Apparently Elizabeth had expressed her feelings of affection for Dylan and he had responded with a kiss - on the mouth.

So the next day when she came home announcing the occurence again, I decided I needed to put a stop to all this kissing nonsense, and again questioned Gil about our choice of schools where the teachers seem to allow all sorts of tom foolery in the class rooms. I explained that she was still a little girl, and she had lots of time for kisses when she was older but that for now she needed to tell Dylan that she wasn't old enough to be kissing on the mouth. A peck on the cheek, a hug that I could handle, but come on who knows what kind of germs this kid has.

When we recieved her report card we couldn't help but giggle as the teacher made a specific reference to Elizabeth developing a very close friendship with one of her classmates. Gil and I exchanged glances and exclaimed "Dylan!" Well at least the teacher seemed to have noticed something.

So it appears that it may be love after all since the summer break hasn't diminished their apparent fascination for each other. Elizabeth spent her summer talking and talking about Dylan, writing him letters we had no way to send, and drawing him pictures she would take back to class to give him. The first day of school when Gil took Elizabeth into class apparently he heard from across the parking lot, inside the gate the call "Elizabeth!!!" followed by "Dylan!!" It was as if all they needed was to cue the music and run across the dandeliaon sprayed field into each others arms. Darn that gate.

The teacher however quickly opened the gate as they tried to talk around it, saying to Gil, "I don't know about those two it's some love affair. He's been asking me when Elizabeth would get here all morning." Like I said, the innocent simple loyal love of children can teach us all alot.

As an aside, Jessica was quite put out that Elizabeth got her first kiss before she got hers, "I'm ten and I haven't even been kissed!", she exclaimed with disgust. Of course if anyone had tried I imagine she would have punched him out.